lisamc

I would check out the Savage Minds blog. I spent some time reading posts earlier today after I came across it, seems to primarily focus on cultural anth. If you scroll down to the very bottom of the home page, there's a list of categories, some good stuff under academia or academics, can't remember what it's called. Some of the posts I read today center around "top schools" (Michigan, Berkely, etc) and whether or not the PhDs they are producing are hire-able. Most of the not-hire-able arguments center around that their programs may be more focused on theory rather than methods, application and teaching. The latter being what makes people good candidates for teaching positions at the majority of schools. That's just a brief brief brief summation of what I gleaned from the blog comments. Cheers!

Hi there, thanks for reading! Initially I thought I wanted to go to grad school for bioarchaeoogy or osteology, but have since learned that my interest is in the intersection of the body and culture, life and death - so mortuary archaeology. Geographically, I'm most interested in the Classical World and the UK. Does anyone have suggestions for programs (either in the US, Canada or UK)? I'm having an internal debate, thinking maybe I should focus more on applied anthropology or maybe CRM. Try to find a way to help people with archaeology beyond satisfying my own curiosities and interests. It would be so much easier to find programs if I had a driving desire to do CRM with indigenous populations in North America. But, that interest grows with time. Anyway, thanks for your suggestions!

I'm chiming in (several years) late, but for archival purposes - why not reply, eh? I'm finding the opposite problem as the OP, I keep coming across archaeology focusing on various parts of the Americas, whereas I'm looking for archaeology focus on the Classical World and British archaeology (mortuary archaeology focus). We should trade lists! haha!

Thank you so much for your reply! Can't believe it's been almost two years since I posted that question...oy time flies! I really appreciate your thoughtful response

Arizona State, from what I've heard, it quite well-regarded in bioarchaeology. But as for grad school experience, I've heard some less than stellar things, but it depends on what you're looking for. For ASU (and keep in mind this is second-hand) I've been told that it's just like many other big R1 programs - lots of students, really competitive within student population, not a lot of interaction with faculty. On the other hand, they are doing great research, have great facilities and graduating from there looks good. Just depends on what you're looking for

I'm considering the same question. Personally, I don't think it could hurt to go through the process of writing a master's thesis, even if it's just a practice for your dissertation. If I fast-forward to when I'm working on my dissertation - would I rather feel like I may have wasted some time working on my master's, or wish I would have had the practice of writing an in-depth thesis that was possibly on a similar topic of my dissertation? I think I've decided I want to get an M.A., but I'm not sure if I want a program where the master's is on the way to the Ph.D., or if I want to do two schools. Have you made the decision yet? Good luck!

Congrats on your acceptance! What will you be studying? I did my undergrad at Oregon. It's going to be difficult to find a small house fairly close to campus that doesn't have many undergrads. They seem to be sprinkled throughout the surrounding neighborhoods. One place I'd definitely stay away from are all of the apartments near Autzen Stadium. Convenient bus ride, but they are generally party-central for undergrads (so if that's what you're looking for, live there, if not, stay away). Chase, Ducks Village and University Commons are a few there. I'd check Craigslist to find a small house in the area, maybe the website for the Oregon Daily Emerald, which is the student newspaper. I believe they have classifieds. The bus system (LTD) is pretty good in Eugene. If you have questions about specific areas, I'd be happy to help! Downtown Eugene will be a bit on the loud side because of the bars, as well as 13th (the main road from campus to downtown).

Hello, I'm a post-bacc student earning a bachelor's in anthropology. I'm planning to go to grad school and eventually earn a Ph.D., with a research focus on bioarchaeology. I'm primarily interested in the classics. I've been contemplating whether or not I'd rather apply straight into a Ph.D. program and earn a master's on the way at a school, or go to two seperate schools for my master's and Ph.D. But I'm also looking at some master's programs in the UK that focus on osteoarchaeology or mortuary archaeology. Is it common for people to get a master's in the UK then be accepted in the US into a Ph.D. program? Or is the educational system different enough that it would be difficult? My gut reaction is that if I want to do bioarch in Italy or Greece, it would be good for me to go to the UK where there seems to be more classical archaeologists. But there also seems to be minimal bioarch. I'm not sure if my master's would even need to focus on bioarch, or if I could focus on classical arch and osteology (and make up the difference with my research). I'd appreciate any advice you have, or tales of experience. I'm going to apply to a lot of places anyway, but I'd like to be more informed if I have to choose between a couple of places (I'm crossing my fingers that I will have choices...) Thanks!